cpadmin@publicbroadcasting.netNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Laura Sullivan is a NPR News investigative correspondent whose work has cast a light on some of the country's most disadvantaged people.Sullivan is one of NPR's most decorated journalists, with three Peabody Awards and two Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Batons. She joined NPR in 2004 as a correspondent on the National Desk. For six years she covered crime and punishment issues, with reports airing regularly on Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other NPR programs before joining NPR's investigations unit.Sullivan partnered with the PBS series FRONTLINE to produce an hour-long documentary investigating the Business of Disaster in May 2016, which examined who profits when disaster strikes. The film and radio pieces grew out of a series of investigations examining the American Red Cross in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake and Superstorm Sandy. The pieces were honored with her second award from Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press and her thirdNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Laura SullivanTue, 09 Aug 2016 05:15:14 +0000Laura Sullivanhttp://ktep.org
Laura SullivanA new report by the New York attorney general's office finds that a lack of accountability in the nation's flood insurance program is costing taxpayers millions. The office also announced 50 felony charges against an engineering firm for allegedly writing fraudulent reports in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.The report comes after NPR and the PBS series Frontline aired a yearlong investigation called "Business of Disaster," which uncovered how private insurance companies made millions in profit after Sandy while homeowners suffered.In the years following the storm, tens of thousands of homeowners came forward saying the National Flood Insurance Program shortchanged them, dragged them through years-long delays and hid information from them.The New York attorney general's office has now found flood insurance does not cover what it promises in its ads, that many engineers and others hired to evaluate damage were not qualified and that homeowners were wrongly prevented from seeing copiesN.Y. Attorney General: Nation's Flood Insurance Program Defrauding Taxpayers http://ktep.org/post/ny-attorney-general-nations-flood-insurance-program-defrauding-taxpayers
90449 as http://ktep.orgTue, 02 Aug 2016 10:28:00 +0000N.Y. Attorney General: Nation's Flood Insurance Program Defrauding Taxpayers Laura SullivanThe American Red Cross spent a quarter of the money people donated after the 2010 Haiti earthquake — or almost $125 million — on its own internal expenses, far more than the charity previously had disclosed, according to a report released Thursday by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley.The report also says the charity's top officials stonewalled congressional investigators and released incomplete information about its Haiti program to the public. It concludes "there are substantial and fundamental concerns about [the Red Cross] as an organization."The report follows a nearly yearlong investigation by the Iowa Republican and his staff, launched after coverage by NPR and ProPublica of the Red Cross' Haiti response. The venerated charity raised nearly $500 million after the disaster, more than any other nonprofit, but an ambitious plan to build housing resulted in just six permanent homes, NPR and ProPublica found.Other findings in Sen. Grassley's report:The charity insisted to congressionalReport: Red Cross Spent 25 Percent Of Haiti Donations On Internal Expenseshttp://ktep.org/post/senators-report-finds-fundamental-concerns-about-red-cross-finances
87465 as http://ktep.orgThu, 16 Jun 2016 09:07:00 +0000Report: Red Cross Spent 25 Percent Of Haiti Donations On Internal ExpensesLaura SullivanThe Federal Emergency Management Agency is making sweeping reforms to the nation's flood insurance program in the wake of a series of critical reports on NPR and the PBS series Frontline. But lawmakers say this isn't enough when private insurance companies are profiting millions of dollars from a program that is already $23 billion in debt."This is a federal program at the end of the day," says Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., whose constituents were heavily affected by Superstorm Sandy. "It needs to fundamentally transform. And if it cannot do so on its own, then we have to consider legislatively whether we scrap the entire model."Menendez and other lawmakers say they are considering ending the National Flood Insurance Program. The program is an unusual hybrid model: private companies are paid a fee to process policies and claims, but taxpayers bear the risk and largely pay the claims. Records show that nearly 80 firms participate in the government's flood program, including some of theLawmakers To FEMA: Flood Plan Overhaul Is 'Too Little, Too Late'http://ktep.org/post/lawmakers-fema-flood-plan-overhaul-too-little-too-late
86740 as http://ktep.orgFri, 03 Jun 2016 18:27:00 +0000Lawmakers To FEMA: Flood Plan Overhaul Is 'Too Little, Too Late'Laura SullivanThis story is Part 2 of a two-part series. See our first piece about insurance firms that profited $400 million after Superstorm Sandy here.The night of Superstorm Sandy, Nick and Diane Camerada decided not to evacuate. Instead, they stayed with their four boys in their Staten Island, N.Y., home. In 20 years, their house had never flooded.They thought: How bad could it be?But that night in October 2012, the water pooled up through the floor."You see the water rising and you wonder if it's ever going to stop," Diane Camerada says.They lost everything on the first floor of their home. "We looked at each other, we had nothing," Diane said.Two weeks later, President Obama toured their neighborhood to see the devastation."He came right to me," Diane Camerada remembers.President Obama told the couple, "My commitment to you is I'm going to stay on it."Diane Camerada responded: "Just don't forget about us."Three years later, her first floor is still a wreck, and down to the studs. She digs outBusiness Of Disaster: Local Recovery Programs Struggle To Help Homeownershttp://ktep.org/post/business-disaster-local-recovery-programs-struggle-help-homeowners
86263 as http://ktep.orgWed, 25 May 2016 22:11:00 +0000Business Of Disaster: Local Recovery Programs Struggle To Help HomeownersLaura SullivanCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.The Pitfalls Of Creating A Disaster Recovery Program From Scratchhttp://ktep.org/post/pitfalls-creating-disaster-recovery-program-scratch
86207 as http://ktep.orgWed, 25 May 2016 09:03:00 +0000The Pitfalls Of Creating A Disaster Recovery Program From ScratchLaura SullivanThis story is Part 1 of a two-part series. See our second piece about local recovery programs that are struggling to help homeowners here.On a cold rainy day last fall, dozens of people gathered in a plaza across the street from New Jersey's state Capitol. They held press conferences and slept overnight in lawn chairs.Everyone had come to make the same point: They'd made it through Superstorm Sandy, which hit the shores of New Jersey and New York in October 2012. But three years later, many hadn't made it home.Doug Quinn, a 51-year-old from Toms River, N.J., had been in the plaza for two days."I should be at home in my house and part of my community and instead I'm here doing this," said Quinn. "I thought it'll be all right; my insurance will take care of what needs to be taken care of and I'll be back home in three to four months. It's [been] three years and I'm still not anywhere close. I look back now and think how naive I was."Superstorm Sandy wasn't a disaster for everyone, thoughBusiness Of Disaster: Insurance Firms Profited $400 Million After Sandyhttp://ktep.org/post/business-disaster-insurance-firms-profited-400-million-after-sandy
86197 as http://ktep.orgTue, 24 May 2016 23:26:00 +0000Business Of Disaster: Insurance Firms Profited $400 Million After SandyLaura SullivanSen. Chuck Grassley is asking federal investigators to give him the names of officials at the American Red Cross who did not cooperate with the government's recent inquiry into the charity.Grassley, an Iowa Republican, sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office Monday morning saying that the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he heads, "has received additional information that Red Cross personnel did not provide unfettered access to the GAO even after multiple requests for relevant information."Grassley is asking investigators for a list of all the documents the GAO requested but "the Red Cross refused to provide," any records or emails the charity wrote that cite reasons for not providing records, and "a list of all the officials that did provide the material GAO requested.""The Red Cross is a federal instrumentality created by Congressional charter," Grassley wrote in the letter, "and receives millions of dollars every year from donors across the country. As such, the RedSenator Wants Names Of Red Cross Officials Who Did Not Cooperate With Inquiry http://ktep.org/post/senator-wants-names-red-cross-officials-who-did-not-cooperate-inquiry
71422 as http://ktep.orgMon, 28 Sep 2015 20:22:00 +0000Senator Wants Names Of Red Cross Officials Who Did Not Cooperate With Inquiry Laura SullivanThe American Red Cross is facing new criticism today as government investigators and a congressman call for independent oversight over the long-venerated charity.Federal legislation is being unveiled that would force the Red Cross to open its books and operations to outside scrutiny — something it has repeatedly resisted.The proposed American Red Cross Sunshine Act comes in response to a report by the Government Accountability Office, also being released today, that finds oversight of the charity lacking and recommends that Congress find a way to fill the gap.The GAO inquiry cites reporting by NPR and ProPublica about the Red Cross' failures during Superstorm Sandy and misleading statements by CEO Gail McGovern about how the group has spent hundreds of millions of donated dollars.Investigators concluded that the Red Cross needs "regular, external, independent and publicly disseminated evaluations."Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, is introducing the bill, which he saysRed Cross Effort To Shut Down Inquiry Fails; Report Calls For Outside Oversighthttp://ktep.org/post/red-cross-effort-shut-down-inquiry-fails-report-calls-outside-oversight
70599 as http://ktep.orgWed, 16 Sep 2015 09:01:00 +0000Red Cross Effort To Shut Down Inquiry Fails; Report Calls For Outside OversightLaura SullivanThe American Red Cross, which has often boasted of its transparency, attempted last year to halt a congressional inquiry into its disaster relief work, according to a private letter Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern wrote to Rep. Bennie Thompson.In the letter, McGovern asked Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi and the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, to "end the inquiry" he requested into the charity and how it coordinates with the federal government. The Government Accountability Office was already four months into its investigation when McGovern went to see Thompson and followed up with the letter, which was obtained by NPR and ProPublica."As I mentioned at the end of our discussion, I would like to respectfully request that you consider meeting face to face rather than requesting information via letter and end the GAO inquiry that is currently underway," McGovern wrote on June 30, 2014, a week after they met.That was the first of two occasions in which sheIn Private Letter, Red Cross Tried To End Government Inquiryhttp://ktep.org/post/private-letter-red-cross-tries-end-government-inquiry
68772 as http://ktep.orgMon, 17 Aug 2015 09:01:00 +0000In Private Letter, Red Cross Tried To End Government InquiryLaura SullivanThe American Red Cross has met its deadline to say how it spent almost half a billion dollars in Haiti. But the charity's answers have left at least one senator unsatisfied."I have a lot more questions for the Red Cross," Sen. Chuck Grassley says in a statement after reviewing the responses. "I have other questions about the spending numbers and how they add up and the overhead costs for both the Red Cross and the grantee organizations."Those questions go to the heart of what Grassley, R-Iowa, and other members of Congress have attempted to elicit from the charity for the past month. Grassley asked the Red Cross to explain, among other things, how much money it gave to each partner, what its overhead costs were and what it was able to accomplish with the money.In its response, the Red Cross said it could give Grassley most of the information about its grants, but in some cases would need to get permission from the partners to disclose some of the details. The Red Cross said it wasSen. Grassley Not Satisfied With Answers From The Red Crosshttp://ktep.org/post/sen-grassley-not-satisfied-answers-red-cross
67383 as http://ktep.orgThu, 23 Jul 2015 23:50:00 +0000Sen. Grassley Not Satisfied With Answers From The Red CrossLaura SullivanThe American Red Cross is under pressure this week to answer detailed questions from Congress about how it spent the nearly half-billion dollars it raised after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.Some of those answers might be difficult to come by. New documents obtained by NPR and ProPublica reveal that the Red Cross may not have an accurate accounting of how all the money was spent.The reports — internal assessments from 2012 of the group's health and water projects — found the charity failed in many cases to monitor its own spending, oversee its projects and even know whether the projects were successful. The documents also cast doubt on the accuracy of some of the Red Cross' public claims of success.One report found the Red Cross had "no correct process for monitoring project spending."Another pointed to $10 million the charity gave to other nonprofits to fight the spread of cholera. The review found the Red Cross did not evaluate any of the work by these other nonprofits, did not seemDocuments Show Red Cross May Not Know How It Spent Millions In Haitihttp://ktep.org/post/documents-show-red-cross-may-not-know-how-it-spent-millions-haiti
67207 as http://ktep.orgTue, 21 Jul 2015 19:06:00 +0000Documents Show Red Cross May Not Know How It Spent Millions In HaitiLaura SullivanSen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is demanding answers from the American Red Cross on how it spent nearly half a billion dollars in Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake that leveled the country.Grassley sent Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern a list of 17 detailed questions and has given the venerated charity a little over a week to respond. Until now, the Red Cross has declined to address publicly many of the questions the senator is asking.Grassley cited recent stories by NPR and ProPublica about Red Cross efforts in Haiti, which found a string of poorly managed projects and questionable spending.The Red Cross promised donors it would provide permanent homes to tens of thousands of people and that it would build brand-new communities. After five years, the organization has built just six homes."This is kind of surprising to me," Grassley tells NPR. In recent years, he has played an oversight role over the congressionally chartered Red Cross.In his letter, the senator questioned some ofSen. Grassley Gives Red Cross Deadline To Explain Haiti Spendinghttp://ktep.org/post/sen-grassley-gives-red-cross-deadline-explain-haiti-spending
66478 as http://ktep.orgThu, 09 Jul 2015 20:31:00 +0000Sen. Grassley Gives Red Cross Deadline To Explain Haiti SpendingLaura Sullivanhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJIrMDIU0C0 Haitian journalists pressed an official from the American Red Cross to explain how the charity spent almost half a billion dollars in the country — but got few answers at a news conference this week at Le Plaza Hotel in downtown Port-au-Prince.Frustrated journalists began talking over the official, Walker Dauphin, after he appeared to avoid providing details explaining where the money went, according to a video of the gathering.The news conference was a response to NPR's investigation with ProPublica into the charity — which found repeated failures on the organization's part to deliver on promises to help the country rebuild. The charity has so far declined to provide information on what programs it ran, how much they cost or what their expenses were. Many of the statistics the charity has offered about its work have been refuted by Haitian officials and by the Red Cross' own records.The Red Cross has faced repeated criticism this week fromAmerican Red Cross News Conference In Haiti Grows Heatedhttp://ktep.org/post/american-red-cross-press-conference-haiti-gets-heated
64783 as http://ktep.orgFri, 12 Jun 2015 14:06:00 +0000American Red Cross News Conference In Haiti Grows HeatedLaura SullivanWhen a devastating earthquake leveled Haiti in 2010, millions of people donated to the American Red Cross. The charity raised almost half a billion dollars. It was one of its most successful fundraising efforts ever.The American Red Cross vowed to help Haitians rebuild, but after five years the Red Cross' legacy in Haiti is not new roads, or schools, or hundreds of new homes. It's difficult to know where all the money went.NPR and ProPublica went in search of the nearly $500 million and found a string of poorly managed projects, questionable spending and dubious claims of success, according to a review of hundreds of pages of the charity's internal documents and emails, as well as interviews with a dozen current and former officials.The Red Cross says it has provided homes to more than 130,000 people, but the number of permanent homes the charity has built is six.The Red Cross long has been known for providing emergency disaster relief — food, blankets and shelter to people in need.In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief http://ktep.org/post/search-red-cross-500-million-haiti-relief
64241 as http://ktep.orgWed, 03 Jun 2015 21:36:00 +0000In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief Laura SullivanTwo of South Dakota's largest tribes won a sweeping victory in federal court that could reverberate for tribes across the country.A federal judge has ruled that the state Department of Social Services, prosecutors and judges "failed to protect Indian parents' fundamental rights" when they removed their children after short hearings and placed them largely in white foster care.According to the suit, some of the hearings lasted less than 60 seconds. The suit says some parents were not allowed to speak at the hearings or in some cases hear why their children were being removed."In the past four years alone, hundreds of Indian children have been forcibly removed from their homes and subjected to these judicial hearings," says Stephen Pevar, a staff attorney with the ACLU which brought the case along with South Dakota attorney Dana Hanna on behalf of the Oglala Sioux and Rosebud Sioux tribes."It's no wonder that the social services won a hundred percent of those hearings," he says. "All theFederal Judge Says South Dakota Officials Violated Native American Families' Rightshttp://ktep.org/post/federal-judge-says-south-dakota-officials-violated-native-american-families-rights
60337 as http://ktep.orgTue, 31 Mar 2015 22:26:00 +0000Federal Judge Says South Dakota Officials Violated Native American Families' RightsLaura SullivanCopyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: In South Dakota, Native American children who enter foster care routinely end up living with families that are white. NPR first reported on this problem three years ago. Tribes say the practice tears apart their communities. Two of South Dakota's largest tribes filed a class-action lawsuit to try to keep those children with their relatives and tribes. And NPR's Laura Sullivan reports that they won a sweeping victory last night, which could have implications nationwide.LAURA SULLIVAN, BYLINE: The federal Indian Child Welfare Act was passed 37 years ago to keep native families and tribes together. It mandates that the state place native children with their relatives or tribes if they have to be removed from their parents, but in South Dakota that hasn't always happened. More than 80 percent of native children are placed in white foster homes. One of the biggest complaints of native families who lost children is that they wereNative American Tribes Win Child Welfare Case In South Dakotahttp://ktep.org/post/native-american-tribes-win-child-welfare-case-south-dakota
60331 as http://ktep.orgTue, 31 Mar 2015 21:23:00 +0000Native American Tribes Win Child Welfare Case In South DakotaLaura SullivanThe American Red Cross recently sent NPR and ProPublica a request for corrections to our series of stories detailing problems at the Red Cross, including its response to Superstorm Sandy.NPR and ProPublica have reported on the Red Cross' struggle to meet the basic needs of victims in the weeks after Sandy. The stories described an organization so consumed with public relations that it hindered the charity's ability to provide disaster services. The stories also raised questions about the Red Cross' finances and whether it has misled donors about how it spends its money.The Red Cross argues that the stories were flawed, based on a "lone source," and failed to show the good work the charity has done. NPR and ProPublica stand by the stories. You can read the Red Cross' complaint here, and see our response.NPR reported these stories in partnership with ProPublica. You can read all of their stories here. Can you help? Email NPR correspondent Laura Sullivan or share a tip here. CopyrightRed Cross Criticizes NPR's Coverage; NPR And ProPublica Respondhttp://ktep.org/post/red-cross-criticizes-nprs-coverage-npr-and-propublica-respond
57859 as http://ktep.orgWed, 18 Feb 2015 23:40:00 +0000Red Cross Criticizes NPR's Coverage; NPR And ProPublica RespondLaura SullivanFederal agencies and local police are using a new device to look inside homes and buildings, reports USA Today.The device, called the Range-R, operates like a stud-finder except instead of detecting studs inside a wall, it detects motion beyond the wall, including breathing as far as 50 feet away.The U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled that police may not use high-tech devices to see inside people's homes without a warrant, raising questions about how this device has so far been used."The idea that the government can send signals through the wall of your house to figure out what's inside is problematic," Christopher Soghoian, the American Civil Liberties Union's principal technologist, told USA Today. "Technologies that allow the police to look inside of a home are among the intrusive tools that police have."The FBI did not respond to NPR's request for comment. The US Marshals referred questions about their use of the device to the U.S. Justice Department.Justice DepartmentNew Tools Let Police See Inside Peoples' Homeshttp://ktep.org/post/new-tools-let-police-see-inside-peoples-homes
56150 as http://ktep.orgThu, 22 Jan 2015 03:19:00 +0000New Tools Let Police See Inside Peoples' HomesLaura SullivanSouth Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley starts her second term today. But absent from the inaugural ceremony will be a long-standing tradition: a poem read by the state's poet laureate.State officials say they cut the two-minute poem for time, but some residents suspect it was the mention of slavery that got it tossed.Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth has written poems for South Carolina's past three inaugurations. She describes those efforts as "safe."The poems leaned heavily on nature and animals.But this year, she says, she was moved watching the protests across the country ignited by the deaths of unarmed black men. She wanted to incorporate some of that subject matter into her writing.She took to Facebook and asked South Carolina's residents their opinions and asked them to tell her what they thought she should write about."Some of them were quite beautiful," she said of the posts she got.Many suggested that the sensitive topic of slavery was the reason the poem was snubbed.Her FacebookFor S.C.'s Poet Laureate, An Inauguration Poem Without An Inaugural Audiencehttp://ktep.org/post/scs-poet-laureate-inauguration-poem-without-inaugural-audience
55657 as http://ktep.orgWed, 14 Jan 2015 08:14:00 +0000For S.C.'s Poet Laureate, An Inauguration Poem Without An Inaugural AudienceLaura SullivanCopyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Child welfare advocates filed a class action lawsuit this afternoon against the state of South Carolina, saying it has failed to protect thousands of children in its care. The advocates are demanding changes at a state agency that has faced repeated cases of child deaths and mismanagement. NPR's Laura Sullivan reports.LAURA SULLIVAN, BYLINE: For several years now, South Carolina's Department of Social Services has been criticized for mismanagement and abuse in its foster care homes. The state held hearings and officials promised change. The agency also recently got a new leader, but now the department is facing new criticism, this time from the children. The class action lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Charleston and it's based on the complaints of 11 kids in foster care.Sue Berkowitz is an attorney with South Carolina's Appleseed Legal Justice Center.SUE BERKOWITZ: The South Carolina Department of SocialIn South Carolina, Class Action Lawsuit Pits Foster Kids Against Statehttp://ktep.org/post/south-carolina-class-action-lawsuit-pits-foster-kids-against-state
55567 as http://ktep.orgMon, 12 Jan 2015 21:18:00 +0000In South Carolina, Class Action Lawsuit Pits Foster Kids Against State